World Food Travel Day is a special day dedicated to bringing awareness to the importance of local culinary cultures around the world. Taking place on April 18, the World Food Travel Association invites you to join in and share your favorite culinary culture.
Throughout Florida, you can find different cuisines from all over the world. However, we think it’s important to share with you Florida’s local cuisine. Our state is home to a wide selection of culinary staples – most of which are unique to Florida. Here’s a few of our favorite culinary staples that make the Sunshine State stand out.
Stone Crab
The Stone Crab is a Florida native, and a popular menu item when in season! From mid-October to mid-May, you can find this in many popular seafood restaurants. Joe’s Stone Crab in Miami discovered the Stone Crab and is now well known for this Florida food! We’re getting hungry just looking at them…
Cubans
Fun fact – Cuban sandwiches are not actually from Cuba! These tasty sandwiches originated in Key West and Ybor City to cater to early Cuban immigrant communities in Florida. If you love Cuban sammys, we suggest you look in these two cities. Some of our favorites are Columbia Restaurant, Havana Cuban Food, and Sergio’s.
Oysters
If you’re in Florida and haven’t tried oysters, you haven’t had the real Floridian experience. Apalachicola is a great hub for fresh oysters, and you can find them all throughout the panhandle. From Up the Creek Raw Bar in Apalachicola to Shunk Gulley in Santa Rosa Beach, they’ve got some of the best oysters around.
BBQ
Of course, we can’t forget our southern staples. Southern food is our comfort food, and one of our favorites is bar-b-q. Check out this brisket sandwich from The Bearded Pig!
Key Lime Pie
Another great cultural food from Florida, and our favorite sweet treat, is the infamous Key Lime Pie. Although key limes were brought to the states, the key lime pie is a Key West native. Most famous are Key West’s Chocolate Dipped Key Lime Pie Bars. Of course, you can find this tasty treat all over Florida. The Bay Restaurant in South Walton has a must-try key lime pie when you’re in the area.
Beer
Florida is home to a handful of breweries located across the state. In fact, we have so many that Visit Florida created a Craft Brewery Finder so visitors can find one that suits them perfectly. Some of our favorites are Proof Brewing Company, Cigar City Brewing and Funky Buddha.